Hopper for storing and shipping finely divided materials



June 9, 1953 P. TALMEY EFAL HOPPER FOR STORING AND SHIPPING FINELY DIVIDED MATERIALS Filed OCC. 8, 1948 JOQ . i wzfiiiiig BY fihmmzew,

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Patentecl June 9, 1953 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEPPERFOR S'I'GRING D SII'HE'II I G =FINEL'Y DEVI-BED .Paul Talmey Barringwton, and-John M. Gleason,

Chicago, 111., assignors to .GeneralTAmerican Transportation Corporation, Chicago, 111., a

corp'orationxof NewYork Application .Or'etobcrh, 1948,;Serial N0.253.;57-=4 former practice of storing and hand-ling these 1 'line 4-4 of liig. 1- illustrating a bottom plan materials while loaded in sacks but-n0 satisfactory means has heretofore been provided .for

preventing 'thelaccessfof dust and the like to the materials through the filling opening at the ctop of ithehopjper in which they are stored. While it'would be a simplematter to sealup the-hatch opening at the top of the hopper to provide-a positive insurance against the entrance of "dust and the"like,' this procedureis.notpossiblein practice because certain types of materials which could advantageously be stored and shipped ".in

bulk require some c'onnection with the atmosphere and "a "certain" breathing action ddringstorage and transit. Also, an impervious seal could "not function during thepperation of 'unloadi ng the hopper by the "actionpf suction; which is the preferred practice, "because an inflow. of "air I into the hopper is "necessary while the suction is fin action and it is particularly'important to .prevent the "entrance o'fdust atthat time when it is liable to enter with the incoming air.

"It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide "an improvedih'opper for "the storage and transportation-of finely" divided *materialscomprising improved "means" for normally-closing the'filling "openingofthe' hopper and preventing the entrance into the hopper of 'dust or moisture during the" storage, transit and unloading of'the materials contained within thehopper; the invention is to provide a *hopper for the "storage and transportation of finely divided :mate'- rials comprising an improved hatch "door adapted A further object for to permit'the entrance of air tethe -hopper while" preventing the entrance of dus't'and "moisture."

other obj'ects"relateto vemiousieatur'es of'construction and arrangement-"which will appear more runy hereinafter.

Thenature of theinventi'on will'be understood from the following specification "taken wi'th the accompanyingdrawings "in which one enrbodi ment is illustrated. "In the "drawings,

.2, Figure. .1 shows .a ,par Lal vertical longitudinal section through a railway car illustrating in side elevation a hopper and a portion .of another hopper embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig.2 shows anzenlarged vertical section taken transversely .of the-.car through the upper part of the hopper illustrated in Fig. 1, illustratingthe hatch cover and associated parts-of the present invention;

Fig. i 3 1 is asectional .view .takenon the line- 33 of Fig.. 2, illustrating a-top'pmn view. of the. hatch cover for closing the vfilling opening or the hopper,;.a-nd

Fig. ais-a sectional view takenon the line view .of the top or mailing-- of the hopper.

As illustrated .in .the drawings, the invention is embodied ina. hopper .lfi having .an-npper portion .Hia which is :of .lrectangular crosssection,

both vertically and horizontally, and which is united with alowenportion Jilbhaving a funnellike formation which is adapted to discharge at its bottom :into discharge suction apparatus mounted withina housing H. Asillustrated, there aretwothoppers liliorming a pair extending transversely of the railway car, the lower funnelelike portion liibonlyof one of these hoppers. appearing .in .the drawing. The -lower (funnel-like parts .of .therhoppers are asymmetrically arranged. transversely of the .car and areadapted to. discharge through. rectangular discharge chutes i2 .into discharge hoppers l3 and i410- catedin the housing .H; Thesehoppers are .of

triangular vertical .cross v.section having curved bottom portions-in whichare mounted the suction discharge tubes l5. These tubes extend transversely of the car and are adapted to be connectedwith a source of suction so that the finely divided, materials contained within the "hoppers maybe withdrawn through these tubes and conveyed'to desired points. The inflow of finely'divided 'materialsdnto these discharge hopperslii Land [4 'is controlled by louvers l5 adapted to'beop'erate'd bysuitable'actuating rods and link mechanism so that they may, be opened when suction is applied tothe tubes It inorder topermitthelfinely dividedmateri'alsto be'drawn into thetubes for the -purposeor causing'ithese materials to be "discharged and the hoppers emptiedpf'their contents. Air is 'adaptedto be admitted to the tubes [5 at theendsthereoi opposite the ends to "which the :suction connections are 'made' and the inflow "of "air is preferably. "automatically controlled so" that the air entering the" discharge system-"will be automatically controlled in response to the suction. These features do not in themselves constitute a part of the present invention, being claimed in the copending application of Pauly Talmey and Louis Matolin, Serial No. 49,368, filed September 15, 1948.

For filling purposes, as well as to supplement the action of the suction acting on the finely divided materials at the lower end of the hopper and to permit the access of air to the contents of the hopper, this hopper is provided with a central filling opening at its top which is formed by an annular ring 20 mounted in an aperture formed in the top plates 2| of the hopper. These plates 2|, as well as the plates which form the portions Illa and [b of the hopper, are preferably constructed of sheet metal such as stainless steel or aluminum, and the joints at the contacting edges of the plates which form the hopper are preferably welded together. The top walls 2| are preferably sloped downwardly and outwardly from the filling opening and the top wall of the hopper is preferably covered by a body of heat insulating material 22 which is located immediately below the car roof 23. The formation of the upper part of the hopper and the insulation thereof are claimed in said copending application.

As illustrated particularly in Fig. 2, the annular member 20 which forms the inlet opening of the hopper has an annular metal plate 25 extending horizontally outward therefrom. This plate is united at its edges with another plate or shell 26 of irregular vertical dimension which extends upwardly and outwardly from the plate 25 and has its top edge united with a rectangular metal frame 2? which has flanges connected to the car roof 23 and which forms a hatch opening in the roof. The member 21 has top flanges turned outwardly and downwardly forming rounded edges on which are seated a hatch door 28 adapted to be opened or removed when the hopper is being filled.

The filling opening formed by the annular member 20 is normally closed by a hatch cover 30 having a frame formed by an annular metal plate 3| which seats upon a rubber member 32 attached to the plate 25 around the margin of the member 20, thus providing a substantially tight seal around the edge of the plate 3|. The annular frame or plate 3| has its central opening closed by a filter 33 made up of a plurality of layers of material of fine mesh, such as wire screen or linen cloth. These sheets are secured at their edges in the annular channel member 34 which is secured to the under side of the member 3|. At the bottom of the layers 33, there is preferably provided a sheet 35 of imperforate material, such as paper or the like, which is adapted to provide positive insurance against the entrance of air and dust during the storage and shipment of the materials contained within the hopper. When suction is applied to the tube of the hopper to cause the unloading of the contents of the hopper, this suction is adapted to cause the sheet 35 to break automatically by the action of the atmospheric pressure acting For the purpose of preventing the entrance v of moisture into the hopper, arising from conto include a dome-shaped hood 3! of arcuate cross section which is spaced upwardly from the plate 3| and secured to brackets 38 which have lower outwardly extending flanges attached to the member 3|. The hood 3'! is thereby spaced upwardly from the frame of the hatch cover, thus permitting the access of air to the filter 33, and this hood extends outwardly beyond the margins of the frame 3| so that any moisture collecting upon the upper surface of the hood will run off of the outer edges thereof and collect upon the plate 25. This plate is provided with a sealing ring or rib 39 located outwardly of the member 32 and adapted to form a collecting channel between this member and the member 26 in which the moisture dropping from the hood 31 will collect. This moisture may be conveyed away by a drain pipe 40 which leads through the member 25 and extends downwardly and outwardly to the edge of the car above the top plates 2| of the hopper.

The hatch cover 3|] of each hopper is supported by a hinge 42 attached to the plate 25 and one of the underlying brackets 43 which support this plate. When the hatch door 28 has been opened, the hatch cover 30 may be swung upwardly about the hinge 42 to permit the cargo of finely divided material to be introduced into the hopper through the filling opening. The hatch cover 30 is normally held closed by a series of clamping bars 45 which are pivoted on clamping bolts 46 carried by the plate 25. When the nuts 41 on these bolts are released, the clamping bars 45 may be swung laterally to permit the opening of the hatch cover.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other embodiments which come within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination in a railway car, of a car superstructure having a roof, said roof having a hatch opening, a hatch door for said opening, a hopper for finely divided material mounted beneath said roof and having a filling opening in alignment with said hatch opening, and a hatch cover for said filling opening, said hatch cover comprising a filter for admitting air to said hopper and preventing the entrance of dust, and a hood located above and movable with said filter for preventing the entrance of moisture of condensation through said filter when said hatch cover is closed.

2. The combination in a railway car, of a car superstructure having a roof, said roof having a hatch opening, a hatch door for said opening, a hopper for finely divided material mounted beneath said roof and having a filling opening in alignment with said hatch opening, and a hinged hatch cover for said filling opening mounted to swing upwardly into said hatch opening when said hatch door is open, said hatch cover comprising a filter to prevent the entrance of dust into said hopper and a hood spaced upwardly from said filter and extending outwardly beyond the outer margin of said filter for preventing the entrance of moisture.

3. The combination in means for storing or shipping finely divided material, of a material hopper having a filling opening in its upper part, a hatch door over said opening, and a hatch cover for said opening located beneath said hatch door and comprising a filter for admitting air and preventing the entrance of dust to said hopper and a metal hood of arcuate cross-section mounted above and spaced from said filter, said hood having its convex side directed upwardly and being of larger area than said filter to prevent the entrance of moisture of condensation from the air beneath said hatch cover.

4. The combination in means for storing or shipping finely divided material, of a material hopper having a filling opening in its upper part, a horizontal plate extending around said opening, a compressible sealing member secured to said plate around said opening, a hatch cover having an annular frame hinged on said plate and normally resting on said sealing member, a filter comprising layers of fine mesh material extending across the opening of said frame, brackets mounted on said frame and extending upwardly therefrom, and an upwardly convex metal hood mounted on said brackets and extending outwardly beyond the margin of said filter.

PAUL TALMEY. JOHN M. GLEASON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

